According to authorities, Eric Andrews Salata was facing accusations of sexual abuse against two women, ages 51 and 72, whom he raped while allegedly performing cosmetic procedures.
A Florida doctor accused of raping his sedated patients has been found dead in what has been ruled a suicide , authorities said. His next visit to the Court was scheduled for December 19.
An officer found Eric Andrews Salata, 54, dead in a ditch after receiving a call for a wellness check about eight hours after his ankle monitor apparently went off, according to the incident report, which adds that found a gun near his body.
The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide, a spokesman for the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said.
“Eric Andrews Salata, 54, was found dead in a ditch Monday, a week after police arrested him at his Naples cosmetic procedure clinic, where two women claimed he raped them while sedated.” https://t.co/H0RM33Hx0v
— Dave Agar (@dave1agar) December 1, 2022
Police arrested Salata on November 21 at his clinic, the now-shuttered Pura Vida Medical Spa in Naples , after two women alleged he raped them while they were receiving cosmetic medical treatments under sedation at the spa, according to a statement the Naples Police Department posted on Facebook.
Salata was arrested on two counts of sexual assault on a physically defenseless person, and detectives executed a search warrant at the clinic looking for evidence, according to police. He was released on $100,000 bail the next day and ordered to surrender his passport and wear a GPS monitor until his arraignment, which was set for Dec. 19, according to jail and court records. court.
Salata operated the spa, which offered cosmetic procedures including botox, fillers, fat reduction and vein treatment, with his wife, according to an online directory of businesses in the area.
One of the victims, 51, told police Salata raped her on Oct. 24 when he was supposed to administer a skin tightening procedure, according to the arrest report.
The second victim, 72, told police Salata raped her on Nov. 21, the same day she was arrested, after administering laughing gas to her after a fat reduction procedure, according to the arrest report. That victim told police she “couldn’t believe” he had raped her because of her age, according to the arrest report.
Lt. Bryan McGinn, public information officer for the Naples Police Department, would not confirm the number of additional victims, but said the department received “numerous reports of suspicious or illegal activity” perpetrated by Salata.